Farmers Assisted with Water Tanks and Ponds to Combat Drought

Farmers battling one of Jamaica’s most severe droughts are being backed with water tanks, farm ponds and crop insurance, as the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) works to assist them.

RADA’s Principal Director, Marina Young, outlined the response on Tuesday (September 29) at the 20th Caribbean Week of Agriculture (CWA) at the Ocean Coral Spring Resort in Trelawny.

Ms. Young noted that the drought came as the island was still recovering from Hurricane Melissa in 2025, and after Hurricane Beryl struck in 2024.

“Our disaster response and management framework was really tested to the maximum,” she said.

Ms. Young indicated that the Agriculture Ministry began preparing well before the drought hit by using weather outlooks from the Meteorological Service of Jamaica and regional partners.

Moreover, farmers were contacted before the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season began, through face-to-face visits, WhatsApp messages, social media, television and radio, she pointed out.

According to her, under the Ministry’s drought mitigation programme, which is part of its Production Initiative Programme, RADA and the National Irrigation Commission are trucking water to the hardest-hit parishes, so farmers can keep crops and livestock alive.

Ms. Young indicated that for longer-term protection, farmers are receiving large black storage tanks with a quarter-acre drip irrigation kit. Extension officers help design the system to suit each farm, then instal it and train farmers to maintain it.

In the meantime, Ms. Young pointed out that ponds are also being built. She said more than 30 are under construction or were recently completed, holding over seven million gallons in total.

“We are asking farmers to excavate the earth, and we are working together on the design and completion of construction,” Ms. Young explained.

The Ministry is also pushing farm insurance, including products that pay out for drought, extreme rainfall and hurricanes.

Ms. Young said that the hope is to enrol up to 5,000 farmers this year, out of more than 280,000 registered farmers islandwide.

She added that RADA wants to expand outreach with agro-meteorological advisories, which go beyond weather forecasts to explain how farmers can reduce the damage from droughts or floods.

She called for greater support for extension services across the Caribbean. “Without that link, most of the efforts might not be reaching the targeted audience,” she said.